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What will happen to the 11 jihadists who were sentenced to death in 2019 and then to life imprisonment in Iraq? They all want to serve their sentences in France, while a French investigating judge went to Iraq to investigate at least two of them about their exposure to torture, according to Agence France-Presse .

According to the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor, Agence France-Presse, the judge of the Crimes Against Humanity Unit at the Paris Court has been investigating allegations that the aforementioned jihadists were tortured, inhumane treatment and corruption and punishment, and arbitrary detention since then. December 2023.

“We cannot allow French people to languish in prison, no matter how serious the actions they are accused of,” said Richard Sediou, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, Ibrahim Najjara and Viani Oraghi.

He said, “I will not ask for their early release, but they must be sentenced in a fair situation, and not in five minutes, without a lawyer. We must investigate and decide issued in France.”

The complaint, which was submitted through the formation of a civil party in September 2020, took a long time before it was confirmed. The courts initially decided not to investigate, but the lawyer appealed and was allowed to begin investigations.

This decision gives hope to four other jihadists who also filed a complaint.

A smaller sentence

After the fall of ISIS, 11 jihadists were sentenced to death by hanging in June 2019. In May 2023, Iraqi courts commuted this sentence to life imprisonment.

A judicial source said the sentence move was the result of an exchange between the judges of the two countries, as the Iraqis showed a “strong willingness to cooperate” with the French judicial system, which is investigating of these people. The National Counter-Terrorism Prosecution said the 11 jihadists had arrest warrants issued against them on charges related to a criminal terrorist organization.

In this context, the legal source pointed out that “all of them held high positions in ISIS, and some of them participated in planning attacks in France before they left and then during them in the Iraqi-Syrian region.”

According to the Ministry of Justice, three French nationals are in custody in Iraq, including two women, and are being investigated in the context of combating terrorism.

The legal source explained that in order to continue these investigations, the judges are looking for a way to “listen to the suspects without compromising their rights,” he said that they “mediated with the Iraqis to agree to send lawyers.

The judges proposed holding interrogation sessions under witness status, which was rejected by several detainees through their lawyers.

Marie Duzi, a lawyer for one of the jihadists, said, “Listening to them while they know very well the conditions of detention is the same as accepting those conditions of detention,” asked , “How can we interrogate a lawyer knowing that he is being treated inhumanely and then returning to Paris as if nothing had happened?”

Interrogation in Iraq

On the other hand, some suspects agreed to be questioned in December 2023.

Fodil Taher Aweidat, nicknamed “Abu Maryam,” was questioned for two days by a French judge in the presence of an Iraqi judge, an investigator and a lawyer. Oweidat left for Syria in 2014 with 22 members of his family.

Mathieu Baggar, who is defending three other defendants, denied the “distortion of the proceedings”.

He pointed out that French judges are holding “interrogation sessions that do not fulfill the rights of defense, which undermine the procedures” instead of waiting for the arrest warrant to be executed and the person accused of being transferred to France.

At the same time, Sherine Haidari Mallieri, who defends one of the defendants, said, “Export is the rule, and the problem is that the French authorities are moving away from it without justification .”

Two representatives of the associations of victims of the attacks, George Salins and Arthur DiNovo, told AFP that they wanted to be returned to their country for “more transparency” in the investigations.

In Iraq, a judicial source who requested anonymity told Agence France-Presse that his country had not received “any official request from the French authorities to return French criminals to their country”.

Four lawyers visited Al-Rusafa prison in autumn 2023 and February 2024.

From their non-confidential communications with their clients, they extracted two disturbing memos, which were sent to the French judiciary and which Agence France-Presse was able to review.

According to these two memos, the prisoners live in “cells” packed with more than 120 men, with only one shower and two toilets.

They also only use “a bottle containing a liter and a half of water per day, to drink, take care of their hygiene, and wash their dishes. “

Prisoners do not receive treatment, even those suffering from serious illnesses.